Technology News Blog

KittyCam project finds your pet cat is probably a killer

Investigators from the University of Georgia and the National Geographic Society have launched a project called KittyCam. While it sounds like an adorable movie of fluffy felines, the project is actually collecting serious data about the impact of house cats that roam outside on other wildlife. Turns out that you pet is probably quite the killer.

Out of the 60 cats in Athens, Ga. wearing the detachable, waterproof cameras, 30% of them averaged one killed prey for every 17 hours of outdoor time. The cats also brought less than a quarter of their victims home, meaning most owners have no idea about just how lethal their pets are. The results have the American Bird Conservancy worried, since our feathered friends are the most common victims of our furry friends. In fact, a separate study from researchers at the University of Nebraska found that feral cats have caused the extinction of 33 bird species across the globe.

The KittyCam website has more information about the project and some videos and photos of the camera-wearers in action around town. It also has educational resources about the importance of keeping your pet indoors. And time around the house should never be dull for a cat, especially if you have an iPad handy.

A federal judge in Michigan on Wednesday revoked his order requiring a recount of the state's presidential vote sought by Jill Stein, siding with a state appeals court that found the Green Party candidate had no grounds to mount the challenge. U.S. District Judge Mark Goldsmith's ruling has the effect of halting the recount in Michigan, at least for now, following conflicting rulings a day earlier by federal and state appeals courts. The Michigan Court of Appeals on Tuesday ordered the recount stopped, while the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld Goldsmith's earlier decision and said the process should proceed.

Pakistani military helicopters on Thursday, Dec., 8, ferried remains of plane crash victims to the capital, Islamabad, as aviation authorities said they opened a probe into the crash that killed 47 passengers and crew the day before in the country’s northwest. The small twin-propeller aircraft was traveling from the scenic mountain resort city of Chitral to Islamabad on Wednesday when one of its engines failed shortly after takeoff and crashed in the hillside village of Gug in the district of, according to Pervez George of the Civil Aviation Authority. The plane belonged to the Pakistani national carrier, the Pakistan International Airlines, and had 42 passengers and five crew members on board, PIA spokesman Daniyal Gilani said. (AP) See more news-related photo galleries and follow us on Yahoo News Photo Tumblr .

After inadvertently sending out a promotional email on Wednesday regarding the NES Classic Edition, Best Buy sent out a clarification email later in the day to confirm that it would in fact have the hard-to-find console in stock at retail stores beginning on December 20th.
Last night, Oscar Muñoz ( @oscarinmv on Twitter ) received an email from Best Buy informing him that the NES Classic Edition would be "available in all Best Buy stores tomorrow, December 20." At the time, "tomorrow" was actually December 8th, which explains why Best Buy had to send another email minutes later explaining that NES Classic Edition consoles would actually be in stores on the 20th (via: @matthewrex ).
https://twitter.com/matthewrex/status/806661882941583360
Unsurprisingly, there will be limited quantities available, so if you want to grab an NES Classic Edition from Best Buy later this month, you'll probably need to be at your local store the minute it opens.
Nothing in the email suggests that any stock will be available on BestBuy.com , but it still might be worth keeping an eye out on the website come December 20th. We'll be sure to update this post if we hear anything definitive about the NES Classic Edition coming to Best Buy's website.
If you don't want to wait that long, Amazon said on Twitter earlier this week that it would have "exciting announcements to make in the coming week" for NES Classic Edition fans. We won't know for sure until the retailer shares more details, but we have to assume that means Amazon will have more units soon as well.

Donald Trump’s former campaign manager says the president-elect has already accomplished more in the month since his election than President Obama has in the last four years. “Donald Trump, in the first four weeks of his presidency, has done more to help this country than I think Barack Obama has done in the last four years,” Corey Lewandowski said in an interview with Fox News’ Sean Hannity on Tuesday. Lewandowski, an informal Trump adviser expected to join his administration, said Trump has a shown a stronger “commitment” to the U.S. military and American businesses than the Obama administration’s second term by vowing “to reduce the amount of government regulations so they can continue to grow” at a rate higher than the current economy.

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — An Alabama man convicted of killing a store clerk is scheduled to be executed Thursday, but lawyers for the former Eagle Scout are urging it be blocked because a judge overrode a jury recommendation in imposing the death sentence.